SWG News

Cultus Dispatches: Revelations from Marquette's Fanzine Dataset

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Before there was Usenet, Yahoo! Groups, LiveJournal, Tumblr, and Discord, there were fanzines, fan-produced publications that contained articles, stories, and artwork. The Tolkien fandom was no exception, but these early fan cultures have remained tantalizingly out-of-reach, and for all but a few of us who were there for this epoch of fandom history, largely mysterious.

Researchers at Marquette University have taken a large step forward to remedy this, compiling a large dataset of items contained in the fanzines in the university's special collection. This month's Cultus Dispatches, the SWG's monthly fandom history column, take a look at what the dataset reveals of early fandom history and cultures. What materials did fanzines contain? How were they influenced by the publication of The Silmarillion? What character groups were most popular?

These questions and more are answered in Fandom before the Time of the Trees: Revelations from Marquette's Fanzine Dataset.

New Challenge: Unquote

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... and the Silmarils are in my hair.
~ not J.R.R. Tolkien, never written in Letter 19 to Stanley Unwin

"Silmarillion" fans have long recognized that the texts have in-universe authors whose perspectives and limitations influence the stories that form the basis of our fanworks. We put a lot of trust in those in-universe authors. We turn their allegiances and their biases and their life stories every which way to figure out where gaps in the histories as they tell them might not be the full story, but we generally assume they tried to be honest and that they were, you know, paying attention to all the fighting and dying and oathing going on around them.

But what if our in-universe authors were flat-out … wrong? This month's challenge assumes the worst. It assumes that the in-universe authors heard things dreadfully wrong, or came in too late to the telephone game that is history, or maybe wrote stuff down after quaffing one too many goblets of miruvor, or were just spaced out, thinking about the Girdle of Melian or something.

Prompts this month make just a slight change—just a word or two, sometimes a mere letter—to a quote from The Silmarillion, giving us a piece of story with a very different meaning than the one that got recorded in the book. (Thank goodness for the exemplary copy-editing of one J.R.R. Tolkien!) But for just this month, we're going to pretend that these weird, perplexing, and sometimes inadvertently insightful quotes are the real deal.

To participate this month, choose at least one of our unquotes and make a fanwork using it in some way. You do not need to include the unquote in your work. As always, you can take the prompts and run in whatever direction it takes you. While the nature of this challenge produces prompts that are rather silly, your fanwork certainly doesn't have to be silly.

Prompts for the Unquote challenge can be found here.

You asked for a brief kvetch of my stuff that is connected with my imaginary world.
~ also not J.R.R. Tolkien, never penned to Milton Waldman in Letter 131

In order to receive a stamp for your fanwork, your response must be posted to the archive on or before 15 November 2026. For complete challenge guidelines, see the Challenges page on our website.

Site Etiquette Update: Fandom and Money

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We have updated our policy in Site Etiquette and Terms of Service (SE/ToS) around linking to sites that collect money. We've also added this policy to our #read-me-first channel on Discord, as it is more likely to be relevant there. Our SE/ToS applies across social media and social networks used by the SWG.

Here is what the SE/ToS now says:

For legal reasons, the SWG must remain strictly not-for-profit. Do not use the SWG or its affiliated social media and social networks to request or offer commissions for money. If a fanwork was commissioned, do not mention that commission. Links in your profile, the fanworks you share, or on posts to SWG social media and social networks should not point to sites that collect money, such as Kofi, Patreon, GoFundMe, Venmo, and similar sites, unless you have permission from a moderator. No sites that make a profit will be approved. Violations of the above will be immediately taken down.

What has changed: We've specific "sites that collect money" instead of site that "make a profit." We've also added that such linking should not occur without permission from a moderator.

This means that, yes, there might be limited instances where a site that collects money is appropriate for our archive or social media/networks. For example, events that auction fanworks in exchange for charitable donations or fandom projects, like fanzines, that seek reimbursement only for costs would most likely be acceptable. However, it is essential to clear this with a moderator before posting. Our site moderators can be reached at the Contact link; on Discord, the server moderators are listed in the #read-me-first channel.

Character of the Month: Eönwë

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Amid an early legendarium of commanding voices that take control and plunge armies into battle, Eönwë stands out for his simultaneous strong leadership and his seeming lack of authority to make decisions in that role. Eönwë leads the army of the Ainur, showing exceptional equanimity toward characters who, in the moment, he possibly felt didn't deserve it. Yet he doesn't often get to make decisions, seeming to follow orders from on high instead.

This month, NelyafinweFeanorion documents the textual history and what the canon tells us about this fascinating character who appears in some of the legendarium's thorniest conflicts, never seeming to lose his cool. Like many of Tolkien's characters, he started with an unfocused identity and was shaped not only by J.R.R. Tolkien's decisions about him but Christopher Tolkien's as well, winding up an emblem of a just leader.

You can read NelyafinweFeanorion's biography of Eönwë here.

Instadrabbling Sessions for October, November, and December

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Join us on the first Saturday of every month, as Anna (IdleLeaves) hosts an instadrabbling session on our Discord server! We welcome all creators to join us for an few hours of creating, squeeing, and hanging out with fellow fans on the following dates:

What is instadrabbling? Instadrabbling is a long-standing community activity in the Tolkien fanfiction fandom. A group of friends gets together on chat, someone throws out a prompt or four, and everyone writes a drabble (or whatever comes to mind). We share our creations in the server and admire each other's work. Instadrabbling is low-pressure and casual, and all are encouraged to participate to whatever degree they are comfortable. Instadrabbling responses shared on our server can be about any aspect of Tolkien's legendarium, not just Silmworks.

When we instadrabble, we meet on the #instadrabbling channel on our Discord server. Discord invites can be requested at any time from the moderators. All are welcome to join the Discord, whether you want to instadrabble with us or not!

New Challenge: Stars

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Elo! Behold! Look up to the heavens and see the stars!

Varda created them. They were the first thing the Elves saw, and the Elves loved them. Eärendil became one. His son Elros and his people followed that star to their new island. Because of this, one of Númenor’s names was Starwards. Carried from its destruction were seven stars (and seven stones and one white tree).

Stars were important in Tolkien’s legendarium. This month, our challenge takes its inspiration from them. We give you a panoply of stars to pick from on multiple bingo boards.

We are not drawing bingo numbers for this challenge. You can choose a prompt or prompts from any of the bingo boards. As always, you can use the prompts however you want, and your fanwork does not have to be about or mention stars. You can mix and match prompts in a single fanwork, and there are special stamps for completing a row of prompts, a column, a diagonal, or for the truly stellar among you, an entire card blackout. Please let the mods know if you need one of the special stamps.

Find the prompts for the Stars challenge here.

Thank you to Corvid for this month's banner and stamps!

In order to receive a stamp for your fanwork, your response must be posted to the archive on or before 15 October 2026. For complete challenge guidelines, see the Challenges page on our website.

Cultus Dispatches: Trends in Fandom Entry Year

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To say that the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films inspired a lot of fanfiction is like saying that was is wet. It seems obvious—but do a bit of fiddling and twisting, and it becomes more complex than it seems on the surface.

This month's Cultus Dispatches column—our monthly column on Tolkien fandom cultures and history—uses Tolkien Fanfiction Survey data from three surveys to consider how the films inspired fanfiction. Naturally, they did, but ten years' worth of survey data shows that exactly how is much more complicated than that. For instance, when an author began writing fanfiction relative to the films entering or leaving theaters seems to predict how long they'll stick around, and other historical events happening in the background of these major moments in Tolkien fandom history also added fuel to fanfiction participation.

You can read more about what the data show in "Speak Friend and Enter: Trends in Fandom Entry Year."

Character of the Month: Marach

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With more than two hundred characters, The Silmarillion can't elevate every character to the status of a hero. Most of those two hundred characters play a supporting role, establishing the families and civilizations that would eventually triumph over first Morgoth, then Sauron.

Marach is one such character. Mentioned just seven times in the published text, he can easily evade notice. However, as NelyafinweFeanorion points on out in this month's Character of the Month biography, Marach has important roles to play. Many notables trace their roots to his family tree, and the allegiances he forges are important in the history of the First Age and beyond.

If his name makes you wonder, "Huh? Who??" check out NelyafinweFeanorion's primer on this character who helped establish some of the most important families among the Edain. You can read NelyafinweFeanorion's biography of Marach here.

New Challenge: Allusive

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These tales are ‘new’, they are not directly derived from other myths and legends, but they must inevitably contain a large measure of ancient wide-spread motives or elements. After all, I believe that legends and myths are largely made of ‘truth’, and indeed present aspects of it that can only be received in this mode; and long ago certain truths and modes of this kind were discovered and must always reappear. 
~ Letter 131 to Milton Waldman

All stories, art, and creative endeavors depend in part on the stories, art, and creative endeavors to come before them, weaving back and across and through familiar and loved (or loathed!) works. These allusions create a sense of depth and remind us that new creative works are always unspooling, an essential part of our humanity.

This month's challenge considers the concept of the allusion: a reference to a previous work of literature, art, myth, or history. Participants will choose one (or more!) prompts from a list of allusions, found below. As always, you can use your prompt however you want, and we will never question if a challenge work has adequately used its prompt. For instance, you can create a fanwork about the allusion you select, or you can use the specific phrase in your work—or you can take a totally new and different approach!

You can find the prompts for the Allusive challenge here.

Thank you to Zdenka for this month's banner and stamps!

In order to receive a stamp for your fanwork, your response must be posted to the archive on or before 15 September 2026. For complete challenge guidelines, see the Challenges page on our website.

Cultus Dispatches: "The Rings of Power" Is a Ripple (So Far)

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The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit film trilogies have in many ways defined the Tolkien fanfiction fandom, not only shaping how fans engage with the books but driving fan engagement so that the Tolkien fanfiction fandom remains one of the largest fandoms in history. When the Rings of Power show debuted, many wondered if it would have a similar impact, sustaining interest in Tolkien, encouraging fans to pick up the books, and keeping the fandom thriving.

This month's article in Cultus Dispatches, the SWG's monthly fan studies column, uses data from the Tolkien Fanfiction Survey to get a first glimpse at the impact The Rings of Power has had on the fandom so far. The data show that that impact has been minimal, with few fans joining the fandom or engaging in fanfiction because of the show, even to "write against" it. However, data about the films show that new authors didn't enter the fandom until after the films left theaters, so the biggest impacts of the show may be yet to come.

At the same time, the nearly one in ten authors in the survey who started writing because of the show can't be overlooked. How are writers and readers engaging with the show through fanfiction? How are they similar and different from existing fanfiction authors? Why has the show had minimal impact so far compared to the films, and can we expect this trend to continue?

This month's column tackles these questions and more! You can read "The Rings of Power Is a Ripple (So Far)" here.